A Tripp and a Half

Oh My God! I needed an alarm to rise for the first edition of Tripper Tuesday. When the alarm rings when I am in deep REM, I become so disoriented when that chime goes off. It might be the phone or the doorbell or even part of the dream I was having.  Today I needed a few deep breaths before I was able to bound out of that warm comfy bed that seemed to keep calling me back to it.  It did help however, that I had all my clothes preset and ready so the gathering ritual was at a minimum. And I don’t know about you but I live in fear that I will forget something like the other day when a T-shirt could not be found in my gym bag and I had to reach in to buy that $30 dollar one in the shop.  Nice shirt but I like to buy things out of choice not necessity. 

A few minutes late for the 6 AM but I spied a bike open in the 3rd row and clipped in quickly for another thrill ride and today was no exception. Backing up to yesterday while I was figuring which version of TT (Tripper Tuesday) I was headed for, I noticed that all 3 classes were booked solid. Friends no one sells out three shows in a row, no one but Svengali. And so on with the show. By the time I hit my stride in my first session I couldn’t help but think about the 830 which was so raucous and farouche last week that I had trouble keeping my mind where my pedal stroke was but I soon adjusted.

 I think my voice has changed boys and girls. Normally this life change is reserved for adolescents not for sexagenarians but I could swear my voice has gotten not only deeper but even carries better too. Oh and would you believe that as a teenager I was considered shy and withdrawn and couldn’t seem to be heard by the teacher in the front of the class. We all know that guy is nowhere to be found now. 

The end of the 6 AM came way too fast but I knew if that I could get back from my appointment in Roslyn I could get to the “happening” that is the 830. I arrived about half way in and Tripp looked fresher than he did than in the 6 o’clock class. And as I glanced about I saw the familiar faces of Arthur, Mary and in the way way back Randi all super engaged in Svengai’s call. A class and a half of Tripp and I was ready to roll for the rest of the day. He is a Tripp and a half. 

P.S.

One of my favorites has been sidelined with more sports injuries than I care to mention here and that of course is young Dana. Speedy recovery young one! DB by the way has two speeds off and ferocious. 

P.P.S. 

Where or where is the PQ (Prom Queen) Debbie Jensen? Anyone care to shed some light?   

Please give a read of my first blog ever:

http://mylifeafteraa.blogspot.com/

Roller Coaster Spin

I keep thinking that the next class on Tuesday will be like the one we had at 830 this week. As I said there is no way to duplicate the energy from session to session but I think that something has kicked up the level of collective enthusiasm. It’s definitely a phenomenon, but more commonplace in Svengali’s class because of his natural exuberance, which is so infectious. 

He was without microphone but it mattered little. We saw all we needed in his fandango and those facial expressions that say more than any words ever could. My favorite is when I see the whites of Tripp’s eyes; it’s either an exorcism or a magical incantation he is about to conduct. 

Who are we, his aficionados?  Did we grow up loving the circus or did we love roller coasters that others froze in fear over or did we go to the beach and body surf the biggest waves no one else dared to?  I confess I loved all three and in Svengali Spin I never have to grow up. 

Spontaneous Ignition

Some of us have expressed consternation about the club down the street taking away from some of the core population that is the Tuesday 6 am Svengali. Not very long ago I witnessed it myself wherein the CS was little more than half full when it was always booked in seconds the morning before. It felt like a heart punch. 

I always say that nothing is forever and life in the CS changes within the blink of an eyelash too. And today that example took everyone by surprise even our Master Motivator. I jumped on My EQ yesterday afternoon as I was trying to decide which class I could book, and not only was the 6 am class full but so were the 830 and 945. Three in a row! Lifetime what is that an animal, vegetable or mineral?  

Now to the proceedings today! I arrived late to the club thinking I would pencil myself in for the 945 with the remaining 14 bikes. But some force called to me and pulled me upstairs in the middle of the 830 as I wondered if there might be an open bike for half the class. I spied a bike in the back row next to Don Berman and I quickly buckled my shoes and clipped in.   

You can’t plant energy, you can’t grow it or pull it up like the roots on a dandelion, it just has to happen. Well ladies and gentlemen as I commenced my ride the felt sense was a studio that was literally on FIRE. It was as if spontaneous ignition had taken place. The CS was rocking! I don’t think I have ever heard the studio that loud in my short tenure of 14 months but literally everyone was engaged vocally and gesticulations normally reserved for Tripper could be witnessed in most if not all of the class. You had to be there as you could feel the energy penetrating the solar plexus making the pedal stroke like a hot knife through summer butter. 

Svengali literally drenched from head to foot was beaming ear to ear. I was lucky enough to have the time to take the 945 as well with my friend Jesse. Jesse teaching me the rudiments of Yoga as I am trying to make him an avid spin enthusiast.

 I saw a young woman in deep purple, Sara was her name, to our right and her form was textbook perfect wherein her upper body was frozen just like The Blue Sapphire tells us. In this way the power goes all to the pedal stroke for the best and most efficient ride possible. 

Another young woman, Michelle (I always ask one L or two) gave me a priceless gift. She lost a friend at the tender age of 51 and she told me that when I walked in the CS she almost fell off the bike thinking I was the reincarnation of this man she held so dear.  She said I looked just like him down to the shaved head, goatee, voice and as is my wont, motivational style as well. I thanked her and God I was so happy that I was the instrument to help her reminisce. Thank you Michelle. And Tripper you make it all possible thank you my friend.

Recess

As I look backward from the end of a session atop my Schwinn I feel like there is really no discernible difference between a cadence filled class or one that is put together like Jambalaya. What I mean to say is that at the end of each version of the ride I am soaking wet, my left hand and foot have lost some circulation and I am of course gasping to regain my normal heart rate. 

Both entertain me and both move me closer to some elusive fitness level that escapes definition at least to this point anyway.  What is the difference then?  If you would ask each instructor they would say quite a lot.  But is there?  Order is never a bad thing unless I am lacking the discipline at that particular hour.  I don’t think it’s about being lazy, as I have already told you I am exhausted with both regimens.  The structured class that I love to participate in fascinates me and inspires me each and every time and challenges me and keeps me focused.  The unvarnished version is unusually extemporaneous and moves me viscerally, which results in an inspiration where writing is a stream of consciousness rather than reporting with finely chiseled narratives that only KSC* brings me to. 

So where am I?  Split I guess if you were to push me for my personal preference. In KSC there is an unparalleled dedication to craft and in Svengali’s class the passion he exudes lifts me like an anti-gravity machine.  It’s all good from here and the variety keeps me from the jelly donuts I so used to crave.

*KSC- Kristen’s Spin Class kristensspinclass.blogspot.com

A New Earth, Most Days

We are all together now. Svengali is back in full magnetic form and the attraction is stronger than ever. I felt that power of the lodestone in the 830 this week and I as of this writing are aiming for the 6 tomorrow with a contingency for the 7 AM.  

Happiness is a transitory state of human emotion and can be more elusive than the proverbial butterfly but check in to the CS for an hour and what happens is somewhat mystical. There is no time to be thinking about the past or the future, what happened yesterday or what might happen tomorrow, not if you become fully associated in the present moment. Eckhart Tolle talked about this in his book A New Earth a few years back and that concept has never left me. A powerful concept although I still can’t seem to find my keys, my cell phone, wallet and glasses. I attribute that to being a sexagenarian because I have no other excuse in the present moment. 

The Dream Maker

Tripp’s 5:45 AM spin is one that I hope to make on a regular basis. It’s not as difficult rising before 5 AM as one might expect. One reason is because it’s Friday and when you start your day that early you get an extended weekend like you never imagined. Second there is something to be said about having your exercise completed before 7 AM while the rest of the world is eating fast food and doughnuts. And it gets better with the third reason and that is the company I keep in the hour that seems to fly faster than a humming birds wing. They are all dedicated (else why are they here at this Ungodly hour?) and with people like PC and young Dana I feel like I am in the company of great friends. And the 4th reason which is the most compelling and why I am here, Tripp Doherty, the man that takes the roof off our limitations and makes us believers that if we can think it we can do it.

The Astral Plane

Do you know what the meaning of trance induction is? To me it is a portal to a state of higher consciousness. It’s not words magically spoken and then one becomes transfixed. Quite the contrary, it’s a state that belongs to each and every one of our accumulated memories and us. It is the skilled operator who in turn gets the subject in touch with their inner experiences in a truly meaningful way to evoke our departure to the astral plane. 

Sound too ethereal? If you have been in Tripp’s class you know that I am speaking the truth. John Victor said as much in the locker room when he quipped that Tripp is a man that simply makes you feel good when you are around him. And words can never do justice to just what exactly happens when we enter the sphere of Svengali.  

It was just so great to be back and writing about him again because I don’t claim to know how he does it, I just know that he does. 

Light Show

I am going to try to post to one my favorite blogs without the benefit of having taken a class for almost two weeks in my beloved Woodbury. As I have laid my cards on the table these past 14 months, my time in the CS has provided me with a renaissance I could never have anticipated. I like to think that I have added to the camaraderie I feel that is ever growing in each class I take. And if I am hallucinating, the phenomena of meeting and getting to know people I have heretofore been oblivious to has been so gratifying it has given me inspiration every time I enter words in my macbook, or my jacbook as a close friend recently coined. 

I wrote a story a few days ago about my trip to Equinox in Aventura Florida and although the instructor was extremely charismatic and talented, wild horses couldn’t keep me from all of you and I cannot await my re-entry and you will please pardon me if I lose control via some vociferous calls from my saddle. 

I have 3 new T-shirts and I will unveil them and I hope it doesn’t make for a circus like atmosphere, but when I saw them I said I just had to have them and when one of my favorite “roads” gets played you will see exactly why.  I almost feel Kristen would admonish me but Svengali will love it, I think. Not to worry there is nothing to close your eyes to in fact it will be just the opposite my friends.  

Say It Isn't So

It’s just a rumor and I hate to be the bearer of unsubstantiated stories but I have heard that there may be another mountain someone in the group is thinking about climbing. I know that no one can keep someone else from doing what they find challenging in their lives but I just hope this story has absolutely no legs. Oh and if you have no legs you can’t climb a mountain.  

Bittersweet

In my ‘other’ blog I wrote about how I will miss you all this week as I will be in Florida for a half and half. My trip will be half business and half pleasure.  My sisters and my disappearing Dad will be on my list as the pleasure portion of this bittersweet journey. I have to remind myself that my father is no longer the man I knew because he is gone. 

 I will miss Tripp on this trip. However, I will take two classes with the help of Peter or Jared in Equinox Aventura. I know that my motivation will most likely not come from the instructors down there because frankly I already know whom the best are.  (I wanted to say who but grammar said ‘whom’)

I do expect to hear from my dear friends Debbie, Young Dana, Mary McCann and of course G.  Let me know please how you are enjoying yourselves without my loud voice destroying the decorum of a quiet but highly motivated spin class with my favorite trance inducer Tripp Doherty. 

Jack